Description of Australia holidays, tailor made

This 22 day tailor made holiday in Australia starts in the Northern Territory, a region renowned for its aboriginal heritage, tropical coastline and russet red desert centre. Protected areas, such as Kakadu National Park, the Bamurru Plains and Nitmiluk National Park, feature throughout the first week of this tour en-route to the Red Centre and Uluru whereupon your journey continues south on-board the Ghan Railway as you head to Adelaide in South Australia.

Adelaide alone is well worth a visit however, a speedy ferry journey to Kangaroo Island places you at the heart of one of Australia's premier destinations for wildlife. Exploring the island in the company of a knowledgeable local wildlife guide is the best way to make the most of the experience with everything from kangaroos, seals, wallabies and koalas to whales, dolphins and birds, all to be found living in a wonderfully wild natural environment.

As your Australian odyssey continues you'll board a train on the Indian Pacific railway to Sydney, in glorious New South Wales, where world-famous beaches, cosmopolitan cities and UNESCO sites combine effortlessly with wide open spaces and rugged mountain ranges.

From the Blue Mountains to Jervis Bay and Kangaroo Valley you'll get the opportunity to self-drive for the final stretch of this three week holiday before returning to Sydney to drop off the wheels with a head full of memories and photo album fit to burst.

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Departure information

Available all year. This suggested itinerary can be modified entirely to your personal wishes including departure date, duration, accommodation used and how long you spend in each destination

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Holiday type

Tailor made holidays

This trip can be tailor made to create a unique holiday for your individual requirements by travel experts with intimate knowledge of the destination. It is a more individual trip that will suit those who enjoy immersing themselves in new cultures and environments, with the flexibility to plan a trip at your own pace. Quality and value are the hallmark of these trips, with most services being provided on a private basis.

Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Australia holidays, tailor made

The three week Carbon Conscious Australia trip is an itinerary that features progressive, environmentally sustainable accommodation, excursions and transportation in three diverse states.

Starting with the Northern Territory, the touring throughout the fabulous Kakdau National Park is led by a supremely experienced and passionate guide. The focus is on providing personalised interpretative experiences highlighting in particular, aboriginal culture and the environment. A typical day involves visiting Kakadu's ancient rock art galleries and bushwalking in unspoiled country, swimming in clear waters at the base of towering red ochre escarpment cliffs and perhaps even cruising on a tranquil billabong full of saltwater crocodiles!

The accommodation has been selected for the eco-friendliness. Located on the western edge of the Kakadu National Park is Bamurru Plains, a 300sq km cattle station encompassing coastal floodplains, savannah woodland, paperbark swamps and unique luxury safari style accommodation. The attraction here is in the extraordinary variety and volume of birdlife and wildlife available. Underpinning the natural experience is the camp, remote and solar powered and yet providing a supremely comfortable stay. Activities from the camp focus on exploring the surrounding country, with airboat trips on the wetlands, river cruises and guided walks with an emphasis on environmental awareness and wildlife protection. A strong ecological concept, reconnecting people with nature and yet an understated luxury that is very much in tune with the surrounding environment.

South Australia is blessed with a remarkable diversity of wildlife, in particular across the southern coastline. Kangaroo Island, a short ferry ride from the mainland, has been included in the itinerary for the opportunity to see wildlife in a natural environment. Progressive conservation projects and eco-sensitive management on the island has sustained a remarkable array of birdlife, wallabies, seals, whales and dolphins. Further along the South Australian coastline and a little distance away from Adelaide there are opportunities to interact with more marine life. You can swim with sea lions and dolphins in waters near Baird Bay on the Eyre Peninsula or meet up with thousands of fairy penguins on Granite Island off the Fleurieu Peninsula coast. There may also be the odd shark or two.

South Australia has a selection of very special wineries and a visit to the state is surely not complete without a trip out to at least one of them. A number of these wineries are now implementing conservation practices to protect the local environment and maintain of course, a production of good quality wines. Banrock Station, approximately 2 hours from Adelaide, have for more than a decade been restoring their surrounding landscape so that a once dry and dusty cattle station has been transformed into wetlands and woodland and a flourishing wildlife community. An excursion out to the winery offers an excellent opportunity to experience more than just good wine. The adjacent wetland reserve has a variety of self-guided walking trails that feature story centres, information huts and birdhides where you can watch black swans, pelicans, swamp hens, many species of ducks, ibis, spoonbills, herons and egrets. A bird and wine lovers paradise.

The final state included in our itinerary is New South Wales. We have selected a number of very special accommodation options that subscribe to the principles of responsible travel. To the south of Sydney is the stunning Jervis Bay National Park that encapsulates it all. Home to secluded bays, stunning unspoilt beaches, wildlife and a number of charming small towns Jervis Bay is a popular retreat for many wishing to get away from it all. Close to the town of Huskisson and within a short bike ride of the many natural attractions of the area is Paperbark Camp, a safari styled eco accredited property. Set within a paperbark forest the camp employs solar powered energy and a strict water conservation policy and is another example of how eco principles do not have to compromise comfort.

You could be excused for not wanting to leave the New South Wales coast, such is the beauty of the scenery but you would be missing out. Inland from Sydney are a variety of spectacular locations just waiting to be explored. The Blue Mountains is one such area and offers some of the best walking country in Australia not to mention a number of outstanding nature experiences. In addition there are a good variety of accommodation options throughout the Blue Mountains and a recently developed swag camp in the southern section of the park offers a fabulous natural setting for an authentic Australian bush experience.

This itinerary has been designed to take in a number of iconic Australian locations underpinned with sustainable, eco-sensitive accommodation and transportation.

2 Reviews of Australia holidays, tailor made

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Reviewed on 03 Jan 2014 by Jan Baker

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

All memorable, but perhaps going to Uluru and spending a week in Sydney over Christmas and new Year

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Ensure you book well in advance to get the best fare deals. Take out additional insurance if you book a car as an accident could cost you over AUD 3000. Use cash where possible as the surcharge on credit cards is high.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Not really , no, althoguh we tried where possible to buy local and from the indigenous community, and to use small, local tours where we had a choice.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Excellent with a lot of variety

Reviewed on 06 Mar 2012 by Diane Bushell

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

There were two really memorable parts of the holiday:

1. The accommodation at Cape Otway.This is a fabulous place with great food and service. Lizzie and Shayne are so knowledgeable and passionate, it is really inspiring. We were surrounded by wildlife. We had breakfast with kangaroos grazing right in front of the window. We went on two dusk walks with Shayne, we got up close to koalas and tiger quolls, and fed sugar gliders. We wish we had stayed there longer and would love to go back.

2. Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safari.We had a wonderful time with excellent food and service. We had a private safari with Geoff and Rosie. Geoff knows the outback like the back of his hand and he is passionate about protecting it. We saw loads of wildlife and did some star gazing through the powerful onsite telescope. Geoff is also an excellent cook, we were very pleasantly surprised by the gourmet food. Rosie is a wildlife artist and is very knowledgeable about Australian flora and fauna. She looked after us really well on the second evening and joined us for our amazing dolphin and sea lion swim. We had the boat to ourselves and Alan from the Baird Bay Ocean Eco Experience made sure that we had an incredible interaction with the dolphins and sea lions. We would love to do the safari again.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

At the ecolodge try to get a front-facing room, especially on the ground floor. You will see so many kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, dolphins and sea lions at Cape Otway and the Gawler Ranges that you don't really need to go anywhere else to see them.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Local people owned and ran the tours and accommodation. The ecolodge and Gawler Ranges safari were very eco-friendly properties.